I am making a few changes in the rigging of my TI and need a longer sheet. The rope that was supplied with the boat is black and appears to be 1/4 inch diameter. Not sure exactly what type rope it is, however.

The earlier sail kit I bought for my Revolution came with a different type of rope, which I much prefer. A little stiffer and harder surface. It's also 1/4 inch diameter but white with a black stripe through it.

Any idea what type rope this is? I noted Hobie's spun dacron rope but at $1 a foot I want to make sure I get the right stuff before I order.

I use a 6mm marlow excel racing line. Has a very stiff braided sheath and spectra core. Its a bit overkill (3500lb breaking strain), but just right for size and durability. I payed $.32 a foot but bought 1200 feet.

I do not like the oem line at all, i feel it is distinctly unsuited to its task. The furling line is of much better quality. I recently bought a bunch of lines on ebay, found some decent stuff for $.35 a foot. Out of seven lines bought, one was super soft and useless on a boat. Otherwise, go to West marine or Defender.com. west has a much larger selection online and they ship free to the store or you can request a nonstock item be brought to your store.

Halyard line has a shiny surface, stiffer and tightly woven for low stretch. Runs through blocks and pulleys easily, but is hard to grip. We actually use this as the sheet on the standard sail kits due to the low loads and need to run freely through the aft eye.

Tramp lacing is shiny, smooth on the surface is loosely woven to turn through grommets and such in a tighter turn than the stiffer halyard line. This allows easier lacing and a line that stays tight once finished. The halyard line would be harder to pull through grommets and slowly bend more around the turns thus loosen over time.

Sheet line is typically fuzzy on the surface and soft enough to run through blocks. The fuzz makes the line easier to grip under load.

You can use a smoother halyard line as a sheet, but you have to grip harder causing fatigue to your fingers.

Halyard line would last longer as the fuzzy sheet line does wear faster.